John Deere Green

Today the John Deere Waterloo Works threw itself a 90th anniversary party in downtown Waterloo. We ventured out for our first real 4-person family event with the Baby Bjorn and a stroller. It was a little like the state fair with all the food and tractors and people everywhere. Max loved the "tradors" so much that he was not happy when we had to stand in line for him to climb up into them. We chatted with some friends we ran into and walked around looking at the displays. Overall it was good time and the kids did great. It's always a fine line with knowing how much is too much for Max and we got this one just right. After a couple hours, we were able to pry him away from the JD Gator he was pretending to drive and got in the car to head home. About half way home the meltdown started and 15 seconds after we were in the door I think he was asleep in his crib. Whew! Fun day and well done by JD.

Chloe Joanne Hoden

I decided to write a little blog about our dog Chloe. Yes, she does have a middle name. My cousins Kylie and Kelsey gave it to her. It is a combination of Chris's middle name Joel and mine which is Anne. My pets have always had middle names...Raisin Cream Pie Huinker for example. Chloe is going to be 4 years old on October 27th. She has been both a blessing and a curse during my first few months as a stay at home mom. She does create more work for me, like when she wants to go out or come in right as I sit down to nurse Mya, or when she rips up a diaper or when she eats the plastic off the end of Max's bat and then pukes it up the next morning and I proceed to step in the puke as I wait for the toast to pop up. Or, when I let her ride along in the car and she shoots out the side door and I have to go chase her around. By the way..she only has one master and it's not me:)

You're probably wondering by now..how is she a blessing? Well, she is free entertainment for Max. They are truly best friends. You wouldn't believe their relationship. Max's favorite thing to do is give her treats, but he terrorizes her first by running around the house for 5 minutes egging her on to get it. He uses her as a step stool when he wants to reach something. He chases her with the corn popper, the swiffer, the tennis racquet, the baseball bat, the shovel, etc. Max pulls her hair, grabs her nose, and pokes her in the eyes. Whenever I need something for Max to do, I tell him to go find Chloe and it can buy me a much needed 2 minute break while he tries to find her. Chloe just takes all of it without saying a peep.

She is not always the victim though. Around meal times, she just sits right under his high chair and gets fed plenty. When Max decides he is done eating, he gives her the leftovers. When he gets up from his chair, she gets everything that falls from his bib or lap. Until lately, during naptime you could always find Chloe sleeping in Max's room. I close his door all the way now and Chloe sits outside his room and whines to get in. She is also really good with Mya. I'm not sure how, but she always manages to walk right around Mya, but never steps on her.

There have been moments when I've come close to putting Chloe up for adoption (when Chris is at work of course) but most of the time, she is a great dog. Enjoy some pictures!

Using Chloe as a chair while he eats his popsicle

Chloe sleeping next to Mya (mom..I'm guessing you're cringing looking at this picture:)

Playing in the hose together

playing tug-of-war together

double-teaming the dishwasher

Did I mention, Max loves to pick up poop????

Baptism

Hard to believe the weekend is over! We had a really great weekend celebrating Mya's baptism with family and friends. Chris's parents and Jeff came down Friday night to help us out. David and Jeff helped with the office and Linda helped me(well...she basically did all of it:) with getting the food ready for the baptism and also helped to restock my freezer. We were all tired at the end of the day Saturday, but a lot was accomplished. The office looks great and the food was excellent, so a job well done!

It was a beautiful day today for the baptism. My parents, my sis-in-law Amanda and niece Olivia came along with Mya's Godmothers Rachel and Kindel. (both Luther friends) Kindel and her husband have 2 kids that are close to Max and Mya's age so that was fun to get the kids together. Mya slept through the whole baptism and church service...even when they poured water on her. Max did pretty well too being that he had both sets of grandparents to pay attention to him. We just came back to our house afterwards for a nice lunch and sat outside and enjoyed the September weather.

Enjoy your week ahead. Hope this great weather continues!


This is the last picture of the weekend:)

2 months old!!

Wow...the time has certainly flown by! Mya was 2 months old yesterday. Seems like we just brought her home a few days ago and then at other times it seems like we've always had her. We had her appointment yesterday with our favorite doctor who was back from maternity leave after having her 7th baby:) She weighed in at 11 pounds 5 ounces which put her in the 75th percentile. She was 22 inches long which was 50th percentile. I can't remember her head size, but it was also in the 75th percentile.

We had a couple concerns about her neck strength and we were sort of right. Turns out her neck itself is strong enough, but she favors one side over the other, so we need to do some therapy at home to get that other side strong. Now that I know, I really notice it. Before, I just knew something wasn't quite right. It's definitely fixable, so that's a good thing. Other than that, she looked great! Overall, she is a really good baby. I sometimes feel sorry for Max, because I think we really screwed him up. We have things figured out now...most of the time. She can still throw us for a loop once in awhile! Last night she slept 5.5 hours and then a few more after that so I was pretty happy. I went to bed when she did, so when she woke up, I felt refreshed and actually thought about getting up and doing a few things at 3:45 a.m. I decided I would regret that this morning when Max woke up, so I went back to bed.

Yesterday was my mom and dad's 32nd anniversary. Seems like an awful long time to me! The best part of their marriage is that it seems like it's still getting better and better with time. (kind of like wine...right mom? ) This weekend we're having Mya baptized at Nazareth Lutheran here in Cedar Falls. Chris's parents are coming down tonight to help get ready for the day and to help with the flooring in the basement. Should be a fun weekend! I'll post pictures next week. Have a great weekend everyone!

Night at the Salon

Tonight I finally used up my Mother's day present from Max. He gave me a gift card to get my hair cut and highlighted. I had a small window to schedule the appt. because I needed Chris to be home from work, but had to be back by bedtime. So, my appt. was at 5:45. On my way out the door, Chris told me to have a glass of wine. I didn't even know they had wine! Chris is a regular there...they sometimes refer to me at the front desk as "Chris's wife" Anyway...come to find out, they even have 3 choices of wine! I ordered a chardonnay. To make a long story short, after getting my hair highlighted, getting a hand massage, a head massage and then cut, the hairdresser had to ask me if I needed a ride home! You can imagine the time I had at the salon:) I came home just a few minutes late to find my wonderful husband had Max in the tub and Mya was just kicking away in the bathroom taking everything in. The house looked like a tornado came through our house while I was gone, but that was the least of my worries. The kids did great and I think daddy even watched part of a movie! Not sure how...I haven't managed to brush my teeth somedays, but that's another story.

Tomorrow Mya will be 2 months old. We have our appointment with the pediatrician, so I will write more after the appt. and post some updated pictures of Mya. One more thing...today at HyVee (I only had Mya...Max was at daycare) an older gentleman asked me how old the baby boy was. I first told him it was a girl and then said she was 2 months. He said, "Wow! She is a big girl..just like her mommy!" I'm not sure exactly what he meant, but I just nodded and walked away. Sometimes people just don't know when to close their mouths!!!

The weekend is over already?!

Beth is frustrated that I still haven't figured out how to get our home computer network back up and running, so I thought I'd try my hand at posting a blog for once. Seems like the weekend just started and now it's over again. I remember that we watched the Hawkeyes on Saturday, but that's about it. Max was upset that we don't get the Gophers games on tv down here. We dress up anyway. Even though he's 100% Iowan, for some reason we still don't have a Hawkeye shirt or hat at all; everything is MN! I'm just trying to teach him patience at a very young age - every Minnesota sports fan (of any team) needs it. I'm guessing that by the time Max is a grown man, people will be talking about how long it's been since Minnesota fans saw a champion team.



















The kids have both been sick the last couple of days. Mya has had a runny nose and Max has had the same to go along with his cough and fever. Kids really aren't much fun at night when they are stuffed up! Seems like it is the toughest thing in the world to get to sleep and stay that way. Both Beth and I are feeling it a little bit as well, so if they are feeling as achy as we are, I can understand how uncomfortable it can be. Whether it was the colds or just a lazy overcast Sunday, they slept a lot and we were able to get some things accomplished.

I painted the ceiling and walls of the office and then mowed the lawn under a light mist. Trying to get that office ready to go before my Dad and brother get to town Friday to put the floor, trim and window frame in. Finally, after this room, I'll be able to say that we are DONE with any more home improvement projects here. For a new home, we have been very busy. Beth called me "capable" today, meaning I can do things around the house without hiring someone else. Pretty nice complement but I'm not sure I 100% agree. Maybe I'd get more kudos if I could figure out how to get the dumb Linksys network working again...

Here's a little video I took this morning of Max imitating his favorite book - I'll let you guess which one it is. He yells "no no!" while we read the book every time after "Mama calls the doctor and the doctor said...". The kids are getting cuter every day. I'm sure it is the same with every parent, but I catch myself looking at them with wonder so many times every day.

Going crazy with no internet!!

Well, in case you're wondering why I haven't written in awhile...we haven't had internet since Monday! I'm writing on Chris's computer right now which he brought home from work so I could get caught back up with the world! We are finishing an office in the basement and the dry wallers unplugged the wireless box and now we can't get it working again!

The week has flown by. I had MOPS (mothers of preschoolers) It's a group that meets at our church twice a month. It's basically a group of stay at home moms and we have discussions, crafts, have speakers, etc. and then the kids go to the nursery. Mya stayed with me in the meeting, but Max went to the nursery and did great. The meeting was okay...kind of felt like the new kid on the first day of school when everyone is so excited to see the friends they haven't seen all summer. hopefully next time will be better.

I'm still not brave enough to get to the grocery store or Wal-Mart solo yet. I thought about it a bunch of times this week, but never made it. Today I was going to go, but Mya slept for 3 hours, so I had to get dinner going before I could go. Oh well...there's always next week! Not much else new. Max's new thing this week is that he points to where he wants me to put Mya when I'm holding her. He just says "baby" and then points to various places for me to put her. It's pretty funny. We don't have any plans other than to paint the office this weekend. It will be good to catch up on some other things. Hopefully I can be the lucky one to be holding Mya when Max wakes up in the morning so I can sleep in a little:)

We got our digital video monitors in the mail yesterday. Our neighbors convinced us to get them. They're always outside hanging out while their kids are sleeping and they can just click a button and see them in their crib/bed. Anyway...we got them set up and they are awesome! We click button A and can see Max and then click button B and see Mya! So, we thought everything was great until....my neighbor Jane called me this morning and said, "I see you got your monitors." I didn't know how she knew until she said, "I watched your kids all night!" Apparently their monitor picked ours up so now they can't watch their own kids, but instead see ours! Guess we better be on our best behavior when we're going into their rooms, because someone else could be watching us! I called the monitor company and there's nothing we can do about it.

I better get to bed. Mya slept 7 hours in a row last night, but I didn't go to bed when she did, so I didn't get that many hours. Tonight, I'm not missing out! Have a great weekend everyone!

A successful trip north!

We are back home after a long weekend in the twin cities visiting Chris's family. We got there Friday evening and came back this afternoon. I was not looking forward to the drive, but the kids surprised me. Mya slept the ENTIRE way up there and the ENTIRE way home. I used to think people were lying when they told me their kids slept in the car. Now I know it's probably true. We were just used to Max. One time on a trip home from the cities, we seriously considered getting a hotel in Mason City (80 miles from our house) Max did pretty well too. He slept about an hour on both trips so that was good for him.

We did quite a bit this weekend. Max and Chris marched in a parade for Ashwin Madia while Mya and I went to the outlet mall in Albertville. She slept the whole time in the baby bjorn while I spent way too much money! We made it to 8:30 church service on Sunday and got to see a lot of the Hoden's friends which was fun. Later on Sunday, Chris and the tennis racquet got in a pretty big fight and the racquet won which landed Chris in urgent care and 5 stitches in his lip. He can't pronounce B's or P's, but is doing fine otherwise. All in all, it was a great trip! Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle Jeff for all of their help with Max, Mya and Chloe!

Tomorrow is my first MOPS meeting, so I'm looking forward to that and will let you know how it goes!

18 Month Check

Let's just say that I'm glad I didn't choose today to be brave and take 2 kids out on my own. It was Max's 18 month check-up (and shots). The picture on the left is Max's reaction when I told him we were going to the doctor today. (just kidding...he was mad because I wouldn't let him have the camera) Luckily, Chris came with us. Our appt. was at 10:30 and at 11:43 I turned to Chris and said, if he's not here by noon, we're leaving. I know they're busy, but it's a pediatricians office...it is so hard to keep kids quiet and occupied in a 8X8 room with no toys they can play with. Anyway...the doctor walked in a few minutes later so we got to stay:) Max weighs 25 pounds and is 33 inches tall. Both are the 50 percentile. His head is also in the 50th percent which we were surprised, because Chris and I always joke about his big melon! The shot didn't go so hot. He knew it was coming this time so he was pretty upset the whole apponitment and just clung onto Chris like a monkey. After the shot, we tried to distract him and point out the cool band-aid, but he wasn't buying it. We heard "owey" until we got to the car. Luckily, I brought his blanket so that helped. While we were there, I did a little 2 for the price of 1 and asked a few questions about Mya and got her weighed. She's 10 lb 10 oz.

This weekend we're heading to Maple Grove to see Chris's family. I'm dreading the car ride, but it will be good to get to the cities. We're planning on doing some shopping while we're there which is always fun for me. We're staying until Monday so I'll write about the trip when we get back! Enjoy your weekend!

Am I crazy??

Well, today I got a wild hair and decided to go out in public with my 2 kids for the first time by myself. You're probably guessing I went to Wal-Mart or the grocery store or the bank. That's what a normal person would do on their first public outing...I on the other hand decided to go have their pictures taken! I called the place this morning to get an appt. and they convinced me to come in today and that they would help me out with the kids. So....we went! Here's how it played out. First we had to go to Von Maur to get something for the pictures. While waiting to check out, Mya filled her pants while in her car seat. We only had about 10 minutes to go to the picture place so I decided to wait until we got there to change it instead of getting her out of her seat and then back in, etc. We got within 1/2 mile of the place and I had to pull over because she was screaming so loud and hard that I thought she'd quit breathing. I climbed back in the van and when I pulled her out, poop was all the way up her back! That may explain her screaming. So, I changed her diaper in the back seat of the van and then had to nurse her to get the crying to stop. Meanwhile..Max wanted out of his seat b/c Mya was out of hers. To get his mind off that..I sang the Wheels on the Bus around 15 times.



Finally, we got going again and got to the picture place. The people there were wonderful. We had 3 of them helping us. The pics turned out great and I spent way too much money because I had to decide on the spot what I wanted with 2 hungry children on my hands. All in all..it went pretty well. Chris didn't even know we went so he was pretty shocked when he came home and saw the pictures. I also gained some confidence from the experience, so we may even try HyVee tomorrow!



Tomorrow Max turns 18 months. Hard to believe he's a year and a half already! Time has flown since his first birthday. I'm guessing it will only get faster. His favorite things these days are popsicles (batiz), his blanket (bantie), going outside (ous) and his dog Chloe (mere) We must tell Chloe to "come here" a lot, because he thinks that's her name! We're not sure how an 18 month old little boy can run our lives, but he has figured it out! "Matz" (as he calls himself) can be challenging at times, but he is a great little boy that makes us smile and laugh all day long.

Last night I went for a walk with Max and Chloe because I needed to get out of the house for awhile. I ran into a neighbor who asked how things were going. I think she could tell on my face that it had been a long day. She told me that these are the longest days, but the shortest years. I thought it was a great quote...one that I need to remember on occasion:)



I better close out. Chris is trying to put Mya to sleep right now by standing in front of the bathroom sink with the water on full blast. It's the only thing that works these days! Once we get her to sleep, she does well, but it's getting to that point that is a struggle. I think it's my turn to give it a whirl! Until next time...